Blast heard near Shi'ite shrine in Iraq's Basra

[maddezmom]

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A loud explosion was heard on Sunday near a Shi'ite shrine in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, which came amid raging sectarian violence in Iraq.

Basra, Iraq's second largest city, lies in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim south but around a third of its population is Sunni.

The blast came shortly after firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a rally in Basra calling on Sunnis and Shi'ites to hold joint prayers on Friday. It was not clear if he was near the site of the blast.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060226/ts_nm/iraq_dc;_

[Erika]

1. Five innocent Iraqis killed

and W's death march continues. But, hey, his buds have enjoyed the highest profits in history. That's why W is where he is.

[ECH1969]

2. Why are they attacking Holy Shia Shines and Tombs

It makes no sense from any stand point I can think of.

[maddezmom]

3. it's an all out civil war, just posted this WP article in E&O

Shiite Militias Roam Free Despite Curfew, Occupy Sunni Mosques

BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 -- Until four days ago, the building was a Sunni Muslim mosque called al-Hassan, located on a quiet side street amid a clutch of stone homes with ragged yards in the northeast Baghdad neighborhood of Mustansiriya.

But in the chaos that followed the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra north of Baghdad on Wednesday, Shiite residents of the diverse community and members of a feared militia stormed the mosque and adorned it with black, red and green Shiite prayer flags. They closed the street to vehicles and renamed the mosque after Imam Ali, who was the son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad and is particularly revered by Shiites.

"It was a Shiite mosque before the tyrant Saddam Hussein took it for Sunnis. We had the chance and we took it for its rightful owners," said Haidar Abbas, 25, part of a force of about two dozen guarding the mosque Saturday afternoon. Several carried AK-47 assault rifles as they walked the perimeter, and neighborhood residents said their black attire and police-issue flak vests were hallmarks of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

While Baghdad and three other Iraqi provinces are supposed to be under security lockdown, Shiite militias are roaming the streets among and alongside Iraq's police and army, attacking and occupying dozens of Sunni mosques -- and reflagging some as Shiite -- and detaining and killing worshipers. Residents of several Baghdad neighborhoods have reported seeing pickup trucks barreling through otherwise empty streets, bearing militia members armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/25/AR2006022501252.html

[ECH1969]

4. Trying to take over a holy site

Makes alot more sense then trying to blow up a holy site or tomb.

[4dsc]

6. Bagdad void of US troops??

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/25/AR2006022501738_3.html?nav=hcmodule&sub=AR

Off the Radar Screen

The biggest difference in Baghdad from two or three years ago is the nearly total absence of U.S. troops on its streets. In a major gamble, the city largely has been turned over to Iraqi police and army troops. If those Iraqi forces falter, leaving a vacuum, U.S. pressure elsewhere could push the insurgency into the capital. "I think they're going to go to Baghdad" next, worried Morgan. But other U.S. officers argued that such a move is unlikely because it is more difficult to intimidate a city of 5 million than a rural village.

The streets of the capital already feel as unsafe as at any time since the 2003 invasion. As one U.S. major put it, Baghdad now resembles a pure Hobbesian state where all are at war against all others and any security is self-provided.

[xchrom]

5. no, this isn't a civil war.

not at all.:banghead:

why has it taken THIS kind of madness, murder and mayhem to really call attention to bush's mad adventure?

9-11 made everyone lose their fuckin minds -- well, the people not bushco.
they knew what they were doing all along.